Fighting fires on ships and/or marine vessels may present challenges that are different than fighting fires in buildings and/or other terrestrial structures. For example, when fighting a fire on a ship, fire fighting personnel may have to start on a deck of the ship and travel down to an interior and/or body of the ship, travelling against rising smoke. Additionally, ships may have many interconnected compartments in an interior the ship, which may increase time emergency personnel need to locate a source of the fire.
A method of extinguishing a fire onboard a ship may be to pour water on top of the ship, through a hose on the dock, a hose on another ship, and/or a helicopter. Such methods have limitations, including the viability of the water reaching the source of the fire. When water is poured on top of the ship, the water may be diverted through companion ways and/or ventilators without reaching the source of the fire. As a result, emergency personnel may be needed to extinguish the fire.
To extinguish a fire in the interior of a ship, emergency personnel may walk downwards into the interior. Walking into the interior of a ship during the fire may be a safety hazard to the emergency personnel, because the smoke and the toxic fumes may travel in the opposite direction, towards the emergency personnel. In such a situation, it may be important for the emergency personnel to access breathable air.
Additionally, a design of the interior of the ship may increase the difficulty of extinguishing a fire. The interior of a ship may comprise multiple interconnected compartments and/or chambers. Such a layout may increase the time to locate the source of the fire, which may increase a need of additional breathable air for firefighting personnel. Also, the layout may pose a health risk to passengers on the ship. The passengers may be exposed to smoke and toxic fumes as they navigate multiple corridors of the interior of the ship to seek an exit. Passengers may require breathable air, because it may take additional time to locate an exit.
Containing a fire on a ship may involve isolating the fire through a closure of one or more compartments such that the fire is confined to a specific area. The closure of the compartments may result in passengers and/or emergency personnel trapped in a confined area with limited access to breathable air. As a result, passengers aboard the marine vessel and/or emergency personnel may be subject to death and/or debilitating respiratory illnesses.